Second Childhood
by Tzlil-the-Librarian
Summary: In which Spock has an accident and the crew must deal with the consequences.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One:**

"Scotty to Doctor McCoy, Scotty to Doctor McCoy." The intercom system beeped twice as I frantically hailed the doctor.

"McCoy here, what's the matter?"

I cringed at the tone of irritation in the doctor's voice, knowing that the good doctors irritation was about to increase and that I would bear the blame and brunt of it. He insisted that my boys in engineering gave him more work than the rest of the crew, and had recently threatened to move some of his med bay equipment down here, to my part of the ship. He wasna going to like this at all.

"Well, you'd better get down here as soon as ye can. We've had an accident. Mr. Spock… You'd better come down. And hurry."

"I'll be right there. McCoy out."

"! He's stirring!"

A red shirted ensign called to me from the other side of the room where he stood over the prone form of the ship's first officer. I rushed to his side, calling out orders to my gathered men. They were usually good, hard workers, but with the current crisis, they wanted to stand around like silly lasses, wringing their hands in despair.

"Give him some room boys! Roberts, go fetch a blanket. Snyder, do you have those test results back yet? I have to know what went wrong, and I need to know now!"

I knelt beside Spock as the engineering doors opened with a rush of air. Dr. McCoy hurried in, a look of concern lurking behind his normal irritation. His eyes widened in shock as he saw the first officer.

"My god… Is that Spock?"

"Aye."

"But it can't be! That's a child!"

"Aye, that he is."

Our eyes met, his were wide with shock, eyebrow raised, almost brushing his hairline. I gave him the best smile I could muster, given the circumstances. Between us, lay Spock, a very small Spock, curled up in a much too large uniform. Dr. McCoy wasted no time in getting out his tricorder and examining him.

"He seems to be doing alright, for a Vulcan anyway. His body is under some stress and shock, but considering the state he's in, quite frankly, I'm not surprised. What did you do to him?"

"Yes, what _did_ you do to him?"

I started at the sound of that voice. This wasna turning out at all…

"Captain Kirk! I…I didna realize you were here!"

"Well, when I hear that my first officer had an accident, I'm going to check it out. So what did happen? Why is Spock in a child's body?"

I scrambled up as Kirk glowered at me, standing with his arms crossed over his chest, a look of irritated disbelief on his face.

"Ahh, it was a terrible mistake, sir. My men and I were doing an experiment, testing out a new formula that de-ages objects using the transporter beams particle splitting properties."

"Well, apparently your formula worked. Would you care to tell me how Mr. Spock ended up in the middle of your experiment?" The captain's sarcasm was not a good sign, not at all. I rushed to fill him in on what had happened.

"Aye sir. My men had reserved the second transporter pad for the experiment. They put the different objects that we were trying to de-age onto the pad and after double-checking to make sure that the formula was put in properly, I told them to energize. The next thing I knew, Mr. Spock was materializing, but it wasna him, it was him as a wee lad. I do na know what went wrong, Captain."

"Get on it then! I can't have my first officer like this, it's inexcusable, Scotty! I'm assuming that you can reverse the formula?"

"I can try, captain, but it's highly risky, we have not done it before. The formula is for de-aging, not aging. I'll have to carry out some experiments first…"

"That's not good enough, Scotty!"

Thankfully, the Captain was interrupted from saying anything more as a medical gurney was rolled in and he had to shift out of its way. I moved out of the way as well when Dr. McCoy began barking out orders. He got his way after all, turning my engine room into a medbay. I felt terrible though, and decided to do all that I could to get Mr. Spock back to normal.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading! This is my first Fanfic on this site, so if I mess up the format or anything, I'll do my best to figure out how to fix it! I have a few more chapters already written that I'll upload as I write more. I think it's pathetic when people refuse to post unless they get reviews, so review or don't at your own discretion. I'll update as I'm inspired. Thanks! :D<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

This was utterly ridiculous. First, they make Starships, and then they make transporters, now they're trying to de-age objects? It just isn't natural, and I said so.

"Now Bones, de-aging is a bit farfetched, but there's nothing wrong with Starships, or transporters." Kirk gave me one of his patronizing looks, and the nurse who had come down to help me tried to hide her laugh with a cough. I decided that she might need a double shift the next time she came up on the duty roster, to show her the real dangers of space travel. I quietly continued my tirade as we exited the turbo lift.

"If man was supposed to fly, God would have given him wings…"

As we entered medbay, I sent the nurse off to other duties and told Jim to stay out of the way, as I pushed Spock's gurney to an examination table. Nurse Chapel immediately dropped what she was doing to come and assist me, but stopped up short when she saw who I was about to transfer to the examination table.

"Spock?" Her face turned white and I thought she was going to pass out, but she shook her head and carefully composed herself. She still looked too pale. Chapel was my head nurse, and the most practical woman on the ship, making her invaluable to me in the medical bay. I don't know what I would have done if she had passed out on me.

Green blooded bastard, he was always making my life difficult. I scooped him up into my arms to place him onto the examination table. He was much lighter than I had anticipated, but then, he would be, since he was less than half his normal size. He instinctively curled into my chest and burrowed his head onto my shoulder, his mouth turned down into a frown on his normally serene face. I could feel the soft rise and fall of his chest and the flutter of his heartbeat as he slept against my shirt. I should never have given him that sedative.

A muffled cough made me look up as I eased the stubborn, pointy-eared devil off of me and onto the table. Nurse Chapel was looking a little less stressed, and Jim was grinning at me.

"Not a single word or I swear I will pull out that hypo for the Bulerian Flu Vaccine that you talked me out of giving you last week." I glared at my Captain.

"Not a word, Bones, not a word."

"Nurse Chapel, he should be waking up in about a half of an hour. I gave him a mild sedative so that he could sleep and hopefully relieve his body of the stress it's under. It seems to be working, but I want to hook him up to the scanners to be sure. Vulcan anatomy is just plain illogical."

We worked quietly for the next ten minutes, hooking him up to the scanners, monitoring them, and running a few preliminary organ function and blood tests. Just the usual routine for trauma patients. Kirk was quiet, and stayed out of the way, and for once, he seemed not to notice the young nurses. Well, he wasn't too distracted by them anyways.

"Nurse Chapel, why don't you go see about finding Spock something a little more suitable to wear?" After giving her an encouraging smile, I turned to Jim. "How did he manage to get himself into a mess like this? And what are you going to do with him now?"

"I don't know, Bones. Children aren't usually on the Enterprise."

"I won't know if his mind has reverted back to childhood or not until he wakes up, and even if it hasn't, he's too small to reach anything around here. This is a starship, not a nursery!"

"I know, I'm not very happy about this either. I was thinking that we, all of the higher officers, that is, could take turns watching him."

"What? Are you insane?"

"No, I'm not. It's the perfect solution, either way. Like you said, even if he still has the same mental capacity, he's not tall enough to reach anything. We can each take turns taking care of him while we're off duty."

"Damn it Jim, I'm a doctor, not a nursemaid. Can't you assign some of the ensigns to watch over him?"

"No, he's my friend, your friend too, and we will not be shuffling him off to a corner just because he can't perform his duties, and that's final. Besides, it should be a lot of fun. A child is just what we need to loosen people up around here."

"You do realize that this is Spock you're talking about here. The unemotional Vulcan."

One of the monitors above Spock's bed began to beep, and another began to blink rapidly. Chapel appeared on the other side of the examination table, a bundle of small cloths in her hands and a frown on her face.

"Should we give him another sedative, Doctor? He's beginning to wake sooner than you thought he would."

"No, no, we'll let him wake up. His vital signs have been normal for the past ten to fifteen minutes, and he has some questions to answer, if he can."

The small Vulcan began to stir, and within seconds, his eyelids fluttered open. The small frown on his small pixie face deepened, and little creases appeared on his forehead as he stared at us in confusion.

"Who are you, and where's my mother?" The small voice was slightly shrill, but calm.

"Spock? Don't you recognize us? I'm Jim, Captain Kirk." Jim leaned forward, alarmed.

"No, I do not. This does not appear to be a hospital. If you are a Captain that would lead me to conclude that this is your ship. Why am I here? And where is my mother?" The small voice had a small tremor in it this time.

"Well, I suppose that answers that." I sighed, and pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to push away the ache growing in the back of my head. This was going to be an experience, and not a good one.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello my readers! I hope you all like the newest fluff filled chapter! I've seen a lot of fanfics with regular disclaimers, but I don't know if it's mandatory, because it doesn't seem necessary to me as this _is_ fan fiction. So, the characters aren't mine, just the words on the page...**

**Anyways, Enjoy!  
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**Chapter Three:**

When Spock didn't recognize me, or his surroundings, I was disturbed, but as he calmly questioned me, while trying to conceal his anxiety, the possibilities unfolded in my mind. This could be fun, in a Tabula Rasa sort of way. I slowly smiled, and pulled myself up to sit on the edge of the examination table.

"Well, Spock, I am the Captain of this ship, the Enterprise, the finest ship Starfleet has. Your mother isn't here right now, but don't worry, you're perfectly safe with me. If you don't mind my asking, how old are you?"

"It would be illogical to worry, since that would accomplish nothing. I am six years, five months, and twenty nine days old."

"That precise? No six and three quarters?" Now he was beginning to sound like the Spock I knew, and I couldn't resist the chance to tease him. His soft brown eyes widened slightly in astonishment, and he cocked his head to the side before answering me.

"No, that would be incorrect, sir."

"Jim. Call me Jim." After he had become my first officer, and we started becoming friends, it took a few months for him to feel comfortable with him calling me Jim in private conversation, much less on the bridge. He had been more comfortable with it recently, but not to any large extent. The time to corrupt Spock, was now.

"Jim. I am almost six and one half years old, not six and three quarters, that is too much."

"Well, you're very smart, Spock." At this complement, his face went blank, though the very tips of his ears turned green. A blush perhaps? This was definitely going to be fun. I continued on, wanting to tell him as much as I could to start out with.

"In fact, you're so smart that you're my first officer."

He had been pointedly looking at his feet, embarrassed at my compliment, but at this revelation his face whipped around to look up at me, his brown eyes wide with astonishment and disbelief.

"That would be illogical." Though he fought it, confusion was definitely showing on the small Vulcan's face as his brows furrowed together, and his little mouth twitched in and out of a frown.

"You're telling me…" Bones interjected from where he stood at the end of the examination table. He looked like he was coming down with a headache. This was going to be priceless.

"Well, you apparently don't remember, but you've just been in a little accident in engineering. They were working on a de-aging formula, and you somehow got into the middle of it. So you're really not a child, you're an adult. You've just reverted to childhood for a little while; we're working on ways to get you back to yourself."

"Will I be able to resume my duties as First officer in the meantime?" I shifted uncomfortably on the examination table. I had not been expecting this question or the eager look in Spock's eye. I hadn't realized he enjoyed his job that much.

"No, right now you're too short to reach the station, and you don't remember all of the schooling that helped you with your duties." Bones coughed lightly and nudged me in the arm before interrupting.

"And if I might add, Spock, you have just undergone a major bodily trauma, and will have to be properly monitored. You have about 30 years of aging to catch up on, and we don't know what we're going to do with you in the meantime."

The small Vulcan began to frown again. I could just make out his hands curling into fists in the long sleeved shirt that was now many sizes too big for him.

"I want my mother. I don't need to remain in sickbay; I feel fine and will alert you if there is a change in my condition."

"I'm sorry, Spock, but that's just not possible. As the Chief Medical Officer, I insist that you be properly monitored. I wish I could get your mother for you, but we're a long way from Vulcan."

Spock's eyes began to water slightly, and he fought to keep his lip from quivering. My heart immediately went out to Spock, my now small first officer. Though, technically, he was too young to be my acting first officer now. So he was just a small, young Spock, struggling to hold in his emotions, and almost failing. Even Bones was feeling this tiny Spock's charm, as he gruffly cleared his throat and looked to Nurse Chapel for help. She looked like she might cry as well. Had I mentioned that this was going to be fun?

"Why don't we get you into something more your size, I think Nurse Chapel has found you some clothes." With that, Bones held out his hands for the clothes, and once he had them, he pushed the button for the privacy curtain to come down. Spock's cheeks turned green as he looked at Chapel and then me. That was definitely a blush. Chapel gracefully ducked out and Bones gave me a pointed glare and waved his hand in the direction his nurse had gone. Seeing that I was leaving, Spock looked at me with large, sad eyes. Those eyes also held a little fear in them.

"I'll be right here, Spock, don't worry. Bones, the hypo's can wait. And that's an order."

"Come on Jim, you're going to scare him. I'm going to help him get dressed, not hypo him. As I recall, unlike a certain captain, Spock is up to date on all of his shots. Now get out of here."

I rolled my eyes at Bones and winked at Spock before going to stand on the other side of the curtain with Chapel. I didn't have to wait long for them, within a few minutes the curtain went up again. I had to try very hard not to laugh. Spock sat with his legs dangling off the table, swinging them slowly back and forth, a serene, dignified look on his face. He was wearing a thick, grey dress over a black long sleeved shirt and leggings. With his soft brown leather shoes and pointed ears, he looked like a mischievous elf out of a fairytale.

"Oh good, it looks like the clothes fit you. Are they all right? I had Chekov help me find out what Vulcan children wear in the Database." Chapel seemed very pleased with herself, and very eager to please. I tried to hide my grin as ideas for fun outfits that I could get Spock to wear began coming to mind.

"These are quite satisfactory, thank you. Please thank Chekov for me."

The small face remained dignified, as it dipped in thanks, like a nobleman to his court. Nurse Chapel beamed at him before gathering up his now much too large regulation clothes from where Bones had bundled them up at the end of the bed. An idea struck me as those brown eyes wistfully followed the nurse's departure.

"Why, you can thank him yourself. Can't he, Bones? I'll keep him with me for the afternoon." I put on my best smile, though charming my old friend rarely worked. Worst come to worst, I could always pull rank as the captain, but I preferred not to do that, and Bones knew it. Besides, I had ducked out of getting a regular checkup and shot the week before, so Bones did have it in for me. Our silent war was interrupted by a growl. We all looked at Spock, who was looking at his stomach with not a little bit of surprise and embarrassment.

"It's settled then. I'm taking Spock for a tour of the ship, starting with the mess hall."

Bones sighed dramatically, and grumbled a bit, but he gave in rather quickly. He gently lifted Spock off the table and made sure that he could walk without getting dizzy before letting me know that he expected us both back in the medical bay in two hours sharp, or else.

I held my hand out to Spock, and after giving me an odd look, he settled his small hand into mine, and we headed out of the medbay and towards the mess hall. As we walked the long halls and went up the turbo lift, Spock tried to keep his amazement to himself, but his large eyes and slow steps gave him away. I thought he was going to fall over when we passed the astronomy lab. It looked like the next few days would be full ones.


	4. Chapter 4

Alright readers, time for your Russian accents as I introduce one of my favorite characters, Chekov! :D Thanks for all of the reviews, I won't beg for them, but I love getting them. I like to know why you liked the story, or didn't like it. If you have any suggestions, or scenarios that you would like to see, do let me know and I'll see what I can do! I have a general idea where this is all going, but I'm still working out the specifics. So, this chapter is very fluffy. It kind of got away from me...

Enjoy!

**Chapter Four:**

I felt horrible when Nurse Chapel told me about what had happened to Mr. Spock. Our shift on the bridge had ended at the same time about an hour and a half before, and we took the turbo lift together. He had invited me to join him down on the planet's surface, where he had planned to collect some rock specimens. He offered after I had asked him what his plans for the evening were out of politeness. I declined his offer since I had already promised myself to Lt. Rand for the evening for a game of tennis since the colony on the planet below had a beautiful tennis court which would be a wonderful change of scenery. I am one of the youngest members on the Enterprise, and never turn down an invitation to spend an evening with one of the younger, female personnel, like Rand. Offers such as hers are rare, and as such are to be taken seriously. (And they are much more entertaining than just spending time with Sulu). I was planning on waiting around the transporter room so that she and I could beam down together.

Maybe if I had agreed to go with Mr. Spock, he would not have been on the transporter pad at that moment. Maybe I could have prevented his accident from happening. Maybe _I_ would have ended up as a child too. I'd rather not think about that. What is done, is done. I just hope it can be undone so that we can have our Mr. Spock back.

I was glad to help Nurse Chapel search the database to find clothes for the now small Mr. Spock. Programming the replicator was a breeze, though why any male child would want to wear a dress is beyond me. In Russia, boys wear pants in the cradle, only girls wear dresses. Since Mr. Spock is from Vulcan, which might have different customs, and because Nurse Chapel admires him very much, I kept my thoughts to myself.

Lt. Rand decided that we should postpone our tennis match in case the Captain needed us, so we went to the mess hall instead. We played chess and ate ice cream while we waited to hear how Spock was doing from Nurse Chapel, who had promised to keep me updated. I was in for a very big surprise when the Captain walked into the room, leading a very small Vulcan- Spock.

"Chekov! Good to see you here, it saves us the trouble of tracking you down later." The Captain strode across the room with Mr. Spock in tow.

"Hello sir, I am glad to see you as well. How are you doing, Mr. Spock?" I tried to act normal as I did not want to offend the Vulcan.

"I am well, thank you."

With the Captain's help, he settled onto the bench across from Lt. Rand and myself. I noticed that my lady friend was no longer paying the slightest attention to me or her ice cream, and after a brief smile to Mr. Spock, she beamed at the Captain. I can never keep a girls attention when he's around. However, he didn't seem as happy to see her as she did at seeing him.

"Lt. Rand. What a pleasant surprise. I think Dr. McCoy can help you with the accident forms for what happened to Spock. I have a busy evening ahead and don't want to see them until tomorrow. In fact, I'd like to keep this quiet for the moment, alright?"

At this, her mood turned sour and she quickly excused herself after promising to meet me later for the tennis match. I noticed that Spock's eyes were on her dish as she left, but my attention was diverted as the Captain introduced us.

"Spock, this is Mr. Chekov, he helps me fly the Enterprise. He's our resident young genius, yourself excepted of course, and he's the one who helped Nurse Chapel get you those clothes."

"You have my thanks." Spock's large brown eyes blinked up at me solemnly. I do not have a lot of experience with children, but he seemed both grown up and disarmingly innocent all at the same time.

"You are very welcome. It was my pleasure." At that his eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Why would something as simple as replicating clothing be pleasurable? It is the logical thing to do when your crewmate has none." He looked from me to the Captain for an answer. I was at a loss, but Captain Kirk simply laughed.

"Bones will have my hide for it, but I think I'd like to join Chekov in having some ice cream. What kind do you like, Spock?"

Spock's serene face tilted in thought, and a few small wrinkles appeared between his eyebrows.

"I do not know, Jim. I do not recall having ice cream before."

"What? You've never had ice cream before? Now that you mention it, I don't think I've ever seen you eat it." With a quick move, Kirk strode to the communicator panel on the wall and pressed the button for medbay. "Medbay, this is Captain Kirk. Is Dr. McCoy available?"

McCoy's gruff voice quickly answered. "What's the matter, Jim? Is everything alright with Spock?"

"Yes, yes, nothing to worry about. I was just wondering if Vulcans could have ice cream, that's all. I don't want him to have any allergic reactions."

"That's what you wanted? I knew I should have kept him here… No, he can have ice cream, just make sure he doesn't stuff himself on it, kids shouldn't have a lot of sugar, Vulcans included."

"Thanks, Bones, just what I wanted to hear."

"Alright, now if you'll excuse me, I have real work to do here." The com light went out and Kirk turned to rejoin us. I wouldn't admit it, but I was excited to be able to help Spock experience something new and human. I respect Mr. Spock, very much, but as an adult, he is a Vulcan, very unemotional and unapproachable.

"Alright Spock, what kind would you like to try first?" The Captain seemed as excited as I was.

"The basic, most common flavors are chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry," I helpfully added.

"It would be logical to try a bit of each before I decide which I most prefer, correct?" In this case, his logic sounded like a wonderful idea. And with those big brown eyes blinking up at us, how could we say no to such a reasonable, logical request? We headed over to the replicator, which was a wonder itself to the small Vulcan. I don't know which was more of a wonder to him…

After getting a small dish of each, as well as small dishes of toppings, we sat back down. My ice cream was gone by then, and the Captain was too engrossed in helping Spock to get any himself, so our large quantity of ice cream did not look too unusual. We watched eagerly as Spock took up his spoon for his first bite. His face a mask of seriousness, he lifted a small spoon of vanilla ice cream to his mouth and stuck the very tip of his tongue out to taste it. With a small noise of satisfaction, the rest of the spoon disappeared into his mouth.

"Well, what do you think?" The Captain grinned at him, "Do you like it?"

"It is sweet, and quite cold. It is not an unpleasant taste." He observed his bowl with satisfaction.

"Try it with some chocolate sauce and sprinkles!" I wanted him to experience the full, proper taste. The Captain helped him put the toppings on his bowl of vanilla ice cream, and he eagerly gulped down a spoonful.

"This chocolate sauce is very pleasing. I like how it tastes."

"Well then, let's move on to the chocolate!" The Captain was very pleased with this experiment. I handed Spock the small bowl of chocolate ice cream as the Captain took the vanilla, and a clean spoon. Now I knew why he hadn't replicated his own bowl of ice cream…

Spock did not hesitate to delve into the chocolate; he immediately scooped a spoonful into his mouth, and sighed as he tasted it. The small bowl was emptying fast, I laughed and told him to slow down and try it with toppings. He decided that the caramel sauce was agreeable and that the nuts "contrast well with the ice cream's consistency". He did not like the cherry, it was too sour. The Captain and I were happy to help him eat the small bowl of cherries. The strawberry ice cream was also a success, and he seemed very pleased with the chunks of fruit in it.

After that we decided to have him try a few different flavors, and were interrupted about three flavors later when the com beeped for the Captain. It was Uhura, and she sounded worried.

"Captain, your presence is needed immediately on the bridge. We have an urgent transmission from Star Fleet coming in."

"Alright, Uhura, I'll be right there. Captain out." He turned to Spock and me with an apologetic frown, "Well, I have to be off to the bridge now. Spock, would you like to come with me? I can show you were you used to work!"

Spock looked up from his bowl of chocolate ice cream, a smile forming. As he nodded yes, I noticed a smudge of chocolate on his face. His right hand had sprinkles on it, as well as a pink smear from the strawberry ice cream. The Captain did not seem to notice.

"Do you like Chekov? Have you enjoyed your time with him?" I was surprised by this question.

"His is not disagreeable, Jim, and he has been quite helpful." Spock's smile widened somewhat he turned his brown gave towards me.

"Well, that's great. Chekov, I can't watch Spock all of the time because of my duties, so I'm going to be assigning some of the higher officers to watch over him and take him through their daily routines. You're now on the list, I'll let you know when your turn is." A part of me did not relish the idea of babysitting, but I was having a fun time, and when the Captain gets an idea, there's no arguing with him, anyways. He quickly moved to get up, pulling Spock off of the bench with him.

"Would you mind cleaning up, Chekov? I really need to get to the bridge. Thanks!" He turned to go as soon as I said yes, but Spock was not so fast to leave. He raised his hand; fingers spread into a V, and gave me a very solemn goodbye before taking the Captain's offered hand and hurrying out behind him as I waved. With a sigh, I turned back to the table and started stacking dishes.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The Captain took longer than he usually does to get to the bridge. When the turbo lift doors opened I knew immediately who had entered the bridge by the gasps coming from my fellow crewmates. Turning in my chair I addressed the captain.

"Captain, the message from Starfleet is ready to be view as soon as you wish."

He smiled and strode towards me, Spock in tow. Finally looking at him, I couldn't suppress a gasp of my own. He really had been transformed into a child. He was so… Small! As a child, he was adorable with his pixie face, bowl haircut that was just a bit long around his pointed ears, and his Vulcan child's tunic. He was even smiling. He looked up at the Captain with admiration as Kirk introduced us.

"Spock, this is Lt. Uhura, my best communications officer. You two were. . . Friends."

Spock's giggle surprised me.

"I'm the first officer!" he proudly sang out as he excitedly hopped from one foot to the other. I had never seen him this worked up before. I had to smile though as he threw himself forward and hugged me, almost purring with happiness.

"Well, I'm glad to see you too! He's extremely emotional, Captain."

Kirk shrugged, "Maybe it's because he's a child. He was extremely talkative on our way to the bridge from the mess hall. I don't think I've ever heard him laugh before, but he was in hysterics over the smallest things. Maybe this is a sign that he's warmed up to us?"

I wasn't as optimistic, and gently pulled Spock out of his death grip on my leg. My suspicions were confirmed when I noticed the smudge of brown on his cheek. Narrowing my eyes, I looked up at the Captain, feeling very protective of the small child now happily sitting in my lap.

"Captain, by any chance, is this smudge on Spock's cheek chocolate?"

My glare must have intimidated him because he seemed taken aback and stammered a bit before replying.

"Why, yes it is. We had a little bit of ice cream on our way here, not too much, just a taste. I hadn't noticed the mess…" He trailed off as I pursed my lips in displeasure and sighed. I discovered that Spock's hands were also sticky when he reached for a knob on my control panel.

"Captain, as a general rule, Vulcans do not eat chocolate. It's like alcohol to them."

Understanding dawned on the Captains face, and he looked down at Spock with a mixture of amusement and trepidation as a quiet "oh" escaped him. Our conversation was interrupted by a series of beeps from my console, as another urgent message from Starfleet came through. At this sound, Spock bounced out of my lap and dashed around the small room, giggling, before jumping up into the Captain's chair, fingers hovering over the buttons, causing the view screen to flicker before showing the message from Starfleet. Kirk lunged for the small Vulcan and snatched him out of the chair, clearly annoyed. He placed him in my lap, and quickly hushed the child's protests. I softly whispered in his ear in his native tongue, telling him to be still and quiet; thankfully he listened.

One of the Admirals appeared on the screen, his face a mask of concern.

"Captain Kirk, I am afraid I have distressing news for you. I know you are currently engaged at the colony on Ios, giving the settlers supplies and your crew rest, but something has come up. Since you're the closest starship, you'll have to do. We have received word that the Romulans are planning to attack a colony in the next sector within a few days. Two Romulan war ships have been spotted, and they are advancing on the colony on Mycetta Tres, a planet that also has a large, peaceful indigenous population. The planet is made up of mostly farmers and the capitol is home to many great artists. At this time we do not know what the Romulans want with Mycetta Tres, I need you to apprehend them, avoiding violence if possible. Star Fleet out."

The screen blinked once and went blank. I pushed a few buttons on my console, letting Star Fleet know that Kirk had received the message. Spock hopped off of my lap to go inspect the science station. Seeing this, the Captain sighed and flopped into his chair.

"This is the last thing we need. Uhura, let Starfleet know we're on our way and put out an order for everyone on leave to return to the ship immediately. Sulu, set a course for Mycetta Tres, we'll leave in one hour. How long will it take?"

Sulu punched a few buttons in his console and then quickly responded, "Twenty two hours captain, at our fastest speed."

He pushed the intercom button on the panel in his chair and within seconds Scotty's voice filled the room.

"Scotty here."

"Scotty, this is the captain…"

"Oh Captain Kirk, I am so sorry for what happened to Mr. Spock, it truly was an accident. My men and I are working on solutions; we'll have it sorted out in no time at all."

Kirk interrupted his apology, "I'm glad to hear that, but it may have to wait. We need to head to the colony at Mycetta Tres as soon and as quickly as possible. A couple of Romulan warships are headed there. Is the ship ready?"

"Aye Captain, she's right as rain. You just tell me how fast you need her to go, and she'll get you there."

"Good, that's what I like to hear. We'll leave in an hour; I want you on the bridge then. Kirk out."

The Captain spent a few minutes going from station to station around the bridge, checking up on everyone's progress before sweeping the now sleepy Spock up into his arms and heading for the medbay. As he passed me I couldn't help but smile when I heard him muttering about how McCoy was going to hypo him if he was late in delivering Spock in time for his scheduled checkup. It would serve him right, everyone knows that Vulcans do not eat chocolate.


End file.
